Bachelor Button Cookies

My Grandma Clarke used to make these for my dad. We used to ask her to make them for us but unless my dad wanted them it seemed she never made them.

These are a sandwich cookie with a soft sweet date filling.

You have to make them the day before you really want to eat them. Somehow the filling infiltrates the cookie with its datey goodness. They end up soft and sweet. One bite and I am transported back to being 8 years old.

Try them you will love them.

Here’s what you will need:

For the cookies,

1 ½ cups of brown sugar

¾ cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp baking soda in 1 tbsp of hot water

2 cups flour

½ tsp salt

For the filling,

1 cup of dates, cut up

½ cup white sugar

1 tsp flour

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

To make the cookies, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs in 1 at a time until incorporated. Add the vanilla. Then mix in the soda water. Slowly add the flour and salt. Mix until combined.

Drop by the teaspoon onto a silpat mat lined cookie sheet. Bake in the centre of the oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

To make the filling combine the dates, water, sugar and flour into a small saucepan.

Cook over medium heat for 10-15minutes until thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Once the cookies have cooled completely, take one,

Put a tablespoon of the filling right in the middle,

then sandwich with another cookie.

You should get about 24 cookies.

Place cookies into an airtight container for 24 hours before you eat them. Please wait, I know it will be hard but I promise they will taste 100 times better tomorrow than they do today!

Thanks Grandma! Miss you!

Jen



Baked Chicken Strips

These chicken strips are so easy and so tasty. They are total boy food! My in house food tester loves them, so do I.

Panko is amazing stuff it makes things so nice and crisp, I use it a lot. If you have never used it before give it a try. Makes a great topping for mac and cheese or as a coating for fish!

I made a little dipping sauce to go with, honey dill dip.  You can use whatever dip you like.

Here is what you need for the strips:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, Cut into strips

1 cup panko crumbs

¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried parsley

Salt/pepper

2 eggs

1 heaping tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 shake hot sauce

Salt/pepper

In a shallow pan combine the panko crumbs, Parmesan cheese, dried parsley and salt/pepper to taste. Combine.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, Dijon mustard, hot sauce and salt/pepper.

Dry off the chicken well with a paper towel. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and coat well. Then place in the panko mix and press on crumbs to coat. Place the chicken strip on a tinfoil lined baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray.

Continue with the rest of the chicken pieces. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and chicken is cooked through.

Yum!

For the honey dill sauce combine in a small bowl, ¼ cup mayo, 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tsp of dry dill. Mix together.

Put in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.

Dip away!

Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the dip... it was yummy!

Jen

Sesame Peanut Noodle Salad

I had a craving today... for noodles!

I wanted that cool, crisp, fresh taste of an Asian type noodle salad.

I went online to find a recipe and ended up combining about 4 different recipes. I just added in the things I liked so you can too!

It ended up being super tasty, exactly what i was craving.

Here is what was in my version:

1 package of spaghetti (or you could use soba noodles if you had them)

½ of an English cucumber thinly sliced

½ of a small red pepper thinly sliced

2 cups of finely sliced napa cabbage

3 green onions, chopped

(I could find snap peas but they would be good in here, also thinly slices carrot, or purple cabbage!)

For the dressing:

1 tbsp sesame oil (I think I have the toasted sesame oil... the jar I have is all in Chinese so I am not sure but it tastes toasted so I ended up only using ¾ of a tbsp.Iit has a way stronger flavor. I am going to buy the regular sesame oil for next time. Use what you like.)

3 tbsp of smooth peanut butter

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp hot water

Pepper/salt to taste

How to:

Cook the noodles as directed, drain and put in a large bowl to cool.

Chop all the veggies.

Make the dressing in a blender or food processor. Taste it, add more of what you like.

Add the sauce to the pasta, toss to coat. Toss in the veggies and lightly toss. Some chopped peanuts would be good on top.

It was great at room temperature but I can’t wait to eat it cold for lunch tomorrow.

Have a great week everyone, I have some  more easy weeknight meals coming up this week and a sweet treat!

Jen

Cheddar Cheese Drop Biscuits

Here is the recipe for the biscuits, I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the ingredients! oops!

Oh well here ya go anyway.

You will need,

2 cups of flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp fresh chives

½ tsp garlic salt

½ tsp salt

¼ cups butter

¾ cup milk

¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded (the older the cheddar the better!)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. Mix flour, baking powder, chives, garlic salt, and salt. Cut in butter until you get small lumps. Mix in milk and cheese until just combined. Drop by the heaping spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15mins until golden brown.

These are so light and fluffy and with a smear of butter... oh man!

Jen

Slow Cooker – Hearty Beef Stew

This is the perfect meal for a cold rainy or snowy Sunday,depending where you are. You can get it all ready in the morning, toss it in the slow cooker all day and do other things while dinner makes itself.  Things like eating cookie dough out of the freezer and watching reruns of Gilmore Girls!

I used a nice piece of white tale deer meat that my dad gave to me. If you aren't lucky enough have a dad that hunts and sends you a freezer full of meat you can use regular stewing beef.

Ingredients:

1 lb. cubed venison or stewing beef

¼ cup flour

Salt/pepper

1 tbsp paprika

2 cup beef broth

½ cup red wine (you can omit it just add more beef broth)

1 ½ tbsp teriyaki sauce

2 tbsp worchestire sauce

1 tbsp dry mustard

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

3 small red potatoes, cubed

1 small turnip, cubed

2 small parsnips, cubed

½ lb button mushrooms, quartered

Chop all the veggies into 1 inch pieces,

Cut up your meat into cubes as well,

Heat 2 tbsp canola oil in a large skillet.

Mix flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Dredge meat lightly in flour mix and fry until browned in a hot frying pan. Move browned meat into the slow cooker. Fry in batches if needed. Don’t overcrowd the pan.

Once all the meat is browned deglaze the pan with ½ cup of beef broth and wine. If you aren't using wine just use 1 cup of the beef broth. Pour over meat.

Layer veggies on top of meat.

Mix remaining spices into the rest of the beef broth and pour over veggies.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

You can thicken gravy if needed at the end with a little cornstarch slurry.

Mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water. Turn the slow cooker to high and stir in the slurry. Cook until thickened.

Watch your tongue, it is gonna be hot! Serve with fresh warm biscuits! I will post the recipe for my Cheddar cheese drop biscuits tomorrow. The perfect meal for a cold winter day.

Stay warm everybody.
Jen